Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or Iron Man.

Summary: NEST contact Tony Stark, who comes to help them take down the Decepticons. He brings Pepper and Rhodey along with him. Set after Revenge of The Fallen, and after the first Iron Man film.

Warnings: There may be bad language and hints of slash in later chapters, though nothing explicit.

Co-operation

Chapter 12:

"Gentlemen, we'll be arriving at Stark Industries soon." Tony announced. They had landed at a nearby airport, and then driven the rest of the way in the Autobots. Lennox and Tony were riding in Optimus, whilst the rest of the NEST operatives were spread amongst Ironhide, Ratchet and Sideswipe. "The communications are down, because I'm having no luck getting through to Happy or Jarvis. The only reason for that is the Decepticons."

"Can't your communications lines just be in need of repairs?" Lennox asked.

"Major, I'm Tony Stark. Nothing I build is ever 'in need of repairs' without good reason." Tony replied. "And whenever anything I build does break, it's usually because someone or something is screwing with it. In this case – the Decepticons."

"I'm sensing Decepticon spark signatures." Optimus's voice rumbled through the truck speakers. "Prepare to engage."

"I need to get my suit on." Tony said through gritted teeth. Lennox nodded.

"Optimus, pull over." Lennox ordered. "Get everyone else to do so. We'll get Tony suited up and then we'll head in."

"Something is wrong." Optimus declared.

"What?" Tony asked.

"The spark signatures are fading, like the Decepticons are leaving." Optimus said. "Tony?"

"What?"

"Is Stark Industries where that smoke cloud is?" Optimus asked.

"Shit."

"I'll take that as a yes." Optimus said.

"Optimus, never mind about stopping." Lennox ordered. "Drive full speed towards that smoke cloud. Can you sense any spark signatures anymore?"

"No, none." Optimus said. "It seems they may have got what they came for."

"I damn well hope not." Tony growled.

Optimus stopped just outside the entryway into Stark Industries. Tony jumped down from the cab and ran inside, stopping when he saw just how bad the wreckage was. Lennox ran over to him and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. The NEST soldiers all piled out of the various Autobots, who all transformed.

"Guys – start searching the area for survivors. Autobots – scan the area for Decepticons and help the search for survivors." Lennox ordered. "Tony, show me where the cybertonium was. We'll see if they managed to get it."

"It's this way." Tony said, beckoning Lennox to follow him. "It was stored in my workshop. After the whole mess with Obadiah I decided that all of the valuable materials would be kept in the shop so that only myself, Jarvis, Rhodey or Pepper could access them. Rhodey and Pepper only had access because it's where I keep things for my arc-reactor." They arrived at a large hole in the ground, which led down into a dark room. "Here it is. Where's my suit?"

"Here." Ironhide answered, handing the travel case the suit was in down to Tony.

"Cheers, 'Hide." Tony began to pull the suit on. "Can I ask you guys something?"

"What?" Lennox asked.

"I've heard some rumours around the base that you two have a 'special relationship'." Tony said. "I just wanted to hear it from one of you. Is it really true? And do you really use a holoform when you want to... get physical?"

"Epps told you, didn't he?" Lennox asked.

"It could've been him..." Tony shrugged.

"It's not like that." Lennox scowled. "Don't listen to a word he says."

"Can you just tell me about the holoform thing?"

"Tony, don't you have some cybertonium to look for?" Lennox scowled.

"Oh. Yeah. I can take a hint." Tony rolled his eyes. "I just want to know how the technology operates. I'll be back in a minute." Tony jumped down into the hole, using his boot jets to slow the fall. He landed on the ground and activated the suit lights, allowing himself to look around the room.

The workshop was almost completely destroyed. Tony walked over to the safe where the cybertonium was kept, and saw that it had been blown open. He inspected it, seeing that everything that was in the safe had been taken.

"Oh man, what happened?" Tony asked aloud.

"The Decepticons took the cybertonium, sir." Jarvis's voice rang out through the wreckage.

"Jarvis! Are you okay?"

"Some of my systems are damaged, sir. I need to reboot."

"Okay, I'll get that sorted for you." Tony walked over to one of the half damaged consoles, feeling his suit conducting the sparks jumping off it. "Whoa, that tingles. Rebooting now."

"Thank you, sir."

xXx

"They've got it." Tony snarled, flying back out of the hole and opening his helmet. "The Decepticons have the cybertonium. I'm rebooting Jarvis now. I don't think there's any serious damage to him, just cosmetic on the equipment. Has anyone seen Happy?"

"Epps and Graham just pulled some guy out of the wreckage." Lennox said grimly. "He's in pretty good shape, considering half a building fell on him. "Says his name is Hogan."

"That's Happy." Tony said. "Where is he?"

"He's over there." Lennox pointed to where Epps and Graham were crouching beside a man laying on the floor. Tony ran over to them, his Iron Man suit clanking all the way. He removed his helmet completely and placed it on the floor. He then crouched down, the joints in the suit screaming protests. It wasn't designed for crouching.

"Happy, what happened?" Tony asked.

"Those... robots attacked..." Happy hissed. "Managed to... take one out... with gun... turrets. Think... it was the... leader. The others... grouped around it and... protected it. They... took cybertonium... shut down Jarvis... destroyed the place... sorry..." Graham helped Happy to sit up and handed him a bottle of water.

"Don't apologise. It's not your fault. We got here too late." Tony said. "We're going to get you some medical help, Happy."

"When you say the leader – do you mean Megatron?" Epps asked.

"I guess..." Happy said, taking another sip from the water bottle. "... It was big, silver and mean looking. It changed into some sort of plane, but I'd never seen it before."

"Damn!" Epps said. "They took down Megatron! I sure wish we had some of those turrets."

"And you will." Tony said, picking his helmet up off the floor and standing up. "Lennox, if you use my tech to take out these monsters I will donate five of these arc-turrets to NEST, along with other pieces of kit that use arc-reactor technology. These monsters have nearly killed the people who are close to me and they've destroyed my home. I want them dead."

xXx

Rhodey's eyes slowly flickered open as he tried to get used to the light in the bright room. He could faintly hear the beeping of several machines, though not very clearly. It sounded as though his ears were plugged with cotton wool. He could vaguely make out three people standing over and around him. One was dressed in a white coat, and another in hospital scrubs, whilst the other was a woman with red hair, wearing a suit.

"Can you hear me?" The doctor asked, clicking his fingers beside Rhodey's ear.

"Pupil dilation is normal."The nurse said, shining a light in Rhodey's eyes. "Can you tell me your name? Do you know who you are?"

"I'm... Rhodey..." He mumbled. "James Rhodes... I'm an... airman... Lieutenant Colonel... where am I?"

"Is he going to be okay?" Pepper interrupted.

"He should be fine." The doctor smiled.

"James, you're in the hospital." The nurse said. "Do you remember what happened? Do you remember how you got here?"

"Ice... robots... Tony... where's Tony?" Rhodey asked.

"He's away at the moment." Pepper answered, taking the opportunity to step into the conversation. "He's coming back now though. Morshower gave me a call to say they were on a plane home. Do you know who I am?"

"No." Rhodey said, his face becoming deadly serious. "Are you a doctor?"

"No! I'm –" Pepper started to say. She saw the glint in Rhodey's eye, and she smiled, then began to laugh. "Rhodey, never scare me like that again."

"How could I forget who you are, Pepper?" Rhodey grinned. "You're the one who manages to do the impossible task of keeping Tony on his feet."

"We'll leave you alone for a few minutes." The doctor said. "Don't be too long, we need to run some other tests."

"Okay, thank you." Pepper called after the doctor and nurse as they left the room.

"Are we still on Diego Garcia?" Rhodey asked, struggling to sit up. Pepper ran over to help him.

"We are." Pepper replied. "After the Arctic you went into a coma. You've only been in it for a few days, but it was pretty serious. Tony went to Stark Industries because he realised what the Decepticons were after. It was some sort of element used in arc-reactor technology. By the sounds of it, they got there too late. They're on their way home now."

"Too late?"

"Stark Industries has almost been completely destroyed." Pepper said. "We're going to have to do a massive rebuild."

"Does Tony know I'm awake?" Rhodey asked.

"No. They called in about half an hour ago. Morshower spoke to them, and Maggie and Glen told them the good news – Maggie's pregnant and they're getting married." Pepper said. "I'll just tell him when he gets here... it would be cruel on Lennox and the others if I told him now... he'd be so happy..." She trailed off, a worried expression on his face.

"How was he?" Rhodey asked quietly.

"Blaming himself." Pepper said, her voice trembling. "He was drinking, he was angry... Galloway didn't help. He added to Tony's stress even more... Tony gave him a million dollars to buy himself a new car."

"Why did he need a new car?"

"Tony blew it to pieces." Pepper laughed shakily and wiped her eyes.

"Pepper..." Rhodey sighed. "It's alright now. I'm awake. Tony's coming home. He isn't hurt or anything. It's gonna be okay."

"I know... it's just..." She sighed. "You didn't see him, Rhodey. It was painful."

"Well it'll be better now." Rhodey insisted. "When he arrives, send him straight here?"

"I will." She smiled.

"Okay Miss Potts, we need to ask you to leave now." The nurse announced, walking into the room, pushing a trolley with various medical supplies on it.

"Can't she stay?" Rhodey asked.

"I'm afraid not." The nurse smiled apologetically.

"It's okay. I'll wait outside. Call me back in when you're finished." Pepper said, getting up and walking out of the room. She smiled and waved, then closed the door behind her.

"Okay, Mr Rhodes, I need to take some of your blood..."

Penultimate chapter :O

And Rhodey's awake ^^... which would happen anyway. I'm not THAT mean to fictional characters.

Next one will be the last, and might be up tonight!

Please review! :)

I Caught Myself.